~ Wallace's Attempt at Humanities

Monthly Archives: January 2017

As a life-long Virginian, It’s becoming onerous for me, to keep up with the stream of devolution settling in around Senator Timothy Michael Kaine’s career, and his service in the U.S. Senate.

Citizens of the Old Dominion continue to watch this slide with consternation. In social-media neologisms some have referenced Senator Kaine as “troll.” A troll is someone who deliberately kindles acrimony by making outrageous, offensive or confusing behaviors – his antics becoming implausible.

It came to a crescendo last summer, 2016, when he chased the Democratic Vice –Presidential nomination – with Hilliary Clinton. The public fawning for the job was unseemly; his acceptance of that nomination may have been his crown-jewel of misjudgment – then followed by the October, Farmville, VA appearance at Longwood University. So unpolished.

Kaine’s performance there was exasperating and bewildering. His constant accusations – interruptions – fidgety personae – overwrought body language left him in the dust as loser – on both style and content. Additionally, it was a nationally televised embarrassment for citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Andrew P. Miller, former Attorney General of Virginia, wrote an extensive RichmondTimes Dispatch (RTD) column recently making a convincing argument for both Senators Kaine and Mark Warner to take the statesman role of voting “yes” to the confirmation of Senator Jeff Sessions, for the new Attorney General of the United States. Warner has already rejected such a plea, and Kaine is quiet. We eagerly wait.
Kaine “erred” clearly, according to the RTD, by not supporting the nomination of Katherine DeVos…for Secretary of Education. The newspaper reminded him that DeVos was more than qualified.

Probably his saddest performance was in the Tillerson confirmation hearings for Secretary of State. His performance there – even worse, was the embarrassing laughter of his fellow senatorial committee members, as he ridiculously badgered Rex Tillerson, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of EXXON. No gentleman, he.

Our Virginia Senator accomplished something that no other Virginian has: he made GQ’s list of least-influential people of 2016. The magazine touted his place as a member of a ‘comprehensive’, anger-fueled list of everyone, who ruined our year. Additionally, he totally jumped the gun with his tweet regarding Ohio State University as a “senseless act of Gun Violence”….when the attack was performed with a car and knife….so very pedestrian.

Finally, the headline read: Tim Kaine Cheers End of White Majority in Spanish Address, as reported by Julia Hahn, posted 11/6/2016 7:26:14 AM. With his Arizona speech delivered in Spanish, Kaine cheered the demographic transformation for the United States – caused by the nation’s federal immigration policies – telling his Latino audience, “You are the future of America.” By 2050, communities of color will represent the majority of our population,” Kaine said. “So, of course, Latinos will help shape the future of America because you ARE the future of America.”

Furthermore, Virginia’s senator doubled down on his pledge to expand President Obama’s executive amnesty, ruling out any respect for current emigrational law. It is possible the Democratic ticket knew it was in trouble by then, and he was politically frantic.

Benjamin P.A. Warthen, an incumbent on Richmond’s City Council in 1994, lost his reelection bid to Tim Kaine by less than 100 votes. I had the pleasure of knowing Dr. Warthen’s family, including Ben, who didn’t see it coming; Tim Kaine probably was surprised as well.

Kaine, with little solid examination, headed up the Democratic ladder in Richmond circles, as first Council member – then Richmond’s Mayor – followed by Lieutenant Governor of Virginia – then Governor of Virginia, where he totally mislead Virginians twice by attempting tax heights. These were all fairly close elections – cumulating in his close election to the U. S. Senate. Hilliary’s Vice Presidency was waiting.

This career reminds one of his having done nothing but work. Grimly, he has as, Thornton Wilder put it in The Matchmaker – a lot of adventures, but no experience. Kaine’s learning curve has miles to go before his record invites a reelection.

Dr. Lewis H. Drew, retired Dean of Students – Hampden-Sydney College (H-SC), wrote a little book in 2016: Thoughts on the Inherent Connection among Education, Character Development, Leadership and the Formation of Good People.

Earlier, German philosopher, George Wilhelm Hegel, wrote: Education is “the art of making man ethical.” If he was correct in the 19th century, would he be correct today? For me the above citations act as simple grace – in other words….don’t allow the culture rob you of your soul – with hand-picked moral equivalencies. To be any kind of educator, one must stand one’s ground.

Yale professor allows student to skip exams due to shock over presidential-election results, November 9, 2016.

Here in Richmond, VA, we see Virginia Commonwealth University students abandoning their studies…to protest the 2016 Presidential election results – dismissing their academic, learning responsibilities – and attempting to massively block I–95….a nearby interstate through the city.

A testimony: “When I moved into my office at Darden a woman came around and asked me if I would place a ‘Safe Place’ hanging sign on the door-handle outside my office. ‘Why?’ I inquired. It tells students that if they’re feeling threatened they can find safety in your office, was the reply. ‘I don’t think I’m in a position to offer blanket sanctuary for everyone on campus,’ I replied. Especially, people I don’t know, or have never met. The woman walked away in a huff. I never saw her again”.

And this…they KANT be serious! PC students demand white philosophers including Plato and Descartes be dropped from the University of London syllabus. Such seminal figures including Bertrand Russell should be largely dropped from the curriculum simply because they are white. The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)…demanded that examples should be from Africa and Asia.

Other headlines: Wayne State University cuts Math – wants “Diversity” Requirements for General Education Curriculum…..The University of Wisconsin-Madison is now requiring all men to take gender identity class to “make sure” they are really men……George Washington University, a 25,000-student private university, located in Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C. – eliminated its American-history requirement for undergraduate history majors – making it theoretically possible to graduate from GW with a history degree without ever having had to take a college-level course in U.S. history….

Often an ill-defined integrity means staying with the ship, no matter what, even if it was veering in unscheduled directions that bring disaster of all its loyal passengers. Loyalty to a cause can be impressively touching – like deep friendship – but oh, so perverse – as the above items illuminate.

So what about the enshrined status of Hampden-Sydney College (“Sydney”) after her recent years of reported clumsy leadership struggle? Alumni keep up – occasionally bombarded by the college’s despair with the Longwood University squabble; the apparent old nemesis – drugs and Honor Code violations (joining many Universities and Colleges) among some of her students. In years past, aberrant behaviors are addressed with strong Honor Code discipline, ridding the campus of those who attempted reward by dishonest means; we’ve learned to eschew such academic miseries.

H-SC, nationally ranked, is lead by energetic John Lawrence Stimpert, her 25th president; and M. Peebles Harrison, new Board chairman. Working together, they have geared up for a professional examination, focusing on both Board governance, and Admissions…with a deep degree of seriousness.

Remembering a challenging memorandum written by former H-SC board member, Bill Crutchfield, a good start is to address the decision to remain with single gender education. If the college is to remain single gender, it should aggressively leverage that unique differentiator. First steps need to be clear articulation of how a single-gender education truly benefits a specific sub-set of young men.

Developing a very powerful case for all-male education easily communicated to laypersons, such as potential students and their parents, is paramount. As Crutchfield explained in 2013, On the other hand, if the college cannot develop a strong case for single-gender education that can be communicated to lay persons, we should seriously consider becoming coeducational.

Dean Drew’s little book inspires. He quotes H-SC’s Walter Blair Professor of Latin, the late Dr. Graves H. Thompson: the four years a man spends at college should be like a hill in a plain. As he ascends the hill, he is able more and more to see back over the road that humanity has trod – the great things that have been thought, and said, and done, and believed, and created.

Woody Allen said that 80% of celebrity is showing up; Saying and doing the courageous thing makes it 100%. Both Stimpert and Harrison seem to get that.

…Nod is the land east of Eden where our self-esteem is up for grabs. Once you belonged; you were loved because you were. People accepted you in Eden. In Nod, life is different. You are what you produce. You are what you do. You become loved for your influence and power. In Nod, you can be measured by success and status…. (Reverend Charles S. Teague).

…there is only one GOOD – Knowledge; and one Evil – Ignorance……. (Socrates).

…Beauty-school dropout….No graduation day for you; Beauty school dropout…Missed your mid-terms and flunked shampoo; Well at least you could have taken the time…To wash and clean your clothes up; After spending all that dough….To have doctor fix your nose up; Baby get movin, (Better get movin)….go back to high school….go back to high school….go back to high schooool…. (Frankie Avalon).

…Neighbors bring food with death and flowers with sickness and little things in between. Boo was our neighbor. He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a pair of good-luck pennies….and our lives…. (Harper Lee).

.…Russ Gook reads aloud: Third Lieutenant Stanley gave the villainous crew of counterfeiting smugglers one supercilious glance. Then his eyes softened as he turned and gazed at the oval face of Lady Margaret. The beautiful woman smiled bravely, revealing two rows of perfect teeth the rich color of ivory…. (Paul Rhymer).

….You hold her hand and she holds yours; And that’s a very good sign; That she’s your tootsey wootsey; In the good old summer time….And what might be “tootsey wootsey”? (Evans & Shields).

.…In all species other than man, when an animal reaches puberty, it is all that it will ever be… Only in man is puberty just the beginning. The greater and more interesting part of his learning, moral and intellectual come afterward, and in civilized man is incorporated into his erotic desire…. (Allan Bloom).

….so tired of waiting for you; so tired of longing for you; tired of waiting, Saving my love for you; So tired of dreaming of you; so tired of waiting for you, but though I’m tired, I’ll wait forever, dear… (Russ Morgan).

….By idolizing those whom we honor, we do a disservice both to them and ourselves…we fail to recognize (their) humanity – that are similar to yours and mine. By idolizing those whom we honor, we fail to realize we could go and do likewise… (David J. Garrow; Bearing The Cross).

….Where the blue of the night, Meets the gold of the day, Someone waits for me; And the gold of her hair, Crowns the blue of her eyes, Like a halo tenderly… (Bing Crosby).

.…Hello, I must be going; I cannot stay; I came to say; I must be going; I’m glad I came, But just the same; I must be a goo-inng…. (Groucho Marx).

….Hey! Good Night Everybody – and be very kind to each other…. (Gary Moore).

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